VA IG finds 'systemic' problems

At least 1,700 veterans waiting for health care at the Phoenix Veterans Affairs medical facility were not included on the facility’s wait list, and patients there waited an average of 115 days for their first appointments, according to a preliminary review by the Veterans Affairs inspector general.

In the review, released Wednesday, the inspector general said it has “substantiated serious conditions” and has expanded its review to 42 VA facilities, more than the 26 initially planned. While the the interim IG report says the agency’s scheduling problems are “systemic,” it says it would be premature to link those delays to allegations that dozens of veterans died waiting for care.

The preliminary review comes in response to growing concern on Capitol Hill and at the White House about the practices of VA health facilities. CNN originally reported the allegations that in Phoenix and elsewhere, veterans died while on secret wait lists for appointments. Since then, lawmakers and at least one prominent veterans group have called for VA Secretary Eric Shinseki to step down.

Shinseki has vowed to stay on and fix the VA’s problems and has ordered an internal review of VA’s scheduling practices. He also placed the head of the Phoenix facility and two other officials there on leave.

But the interim report from Acting Inspector General Richard Griffin is likely to fuel Shinseki’s critics, who have argued that new leadership is needed to fix the problems.

The IG’s preliminary review was critical of the VA’s practices. It found that 226 veterans in Phoenix waited an average of 115 days for their first appointment, with 84 percent waiting more than the department’s 14-day goal. The Phoenix facility had reported those 226 veterans waited an average of 24 days, and only 43 percent waited more than two weeks.

Still, the review did not conclude the delays reported in deaths.

“We are not reporting the results of our clinical reviews in this interim report on whether any delay in scheduling a primary care appointment resulted in a delay in diagnosis or treatment, particularly for those veterans who died while on a waiting list,” the report said.

The inspector general urged Shinseki to immediately provide care to the 1,700 veterans not included on the official wait list and to initiate a nationwide review of veterans on wait lists.

The 35-page preliminary report notes that scheduling issues are hardly a new problem, and noted that the IG has issued 18 reports since 2005 identifying “deficiencies in scheduling resulting in lengthy waiting times and the negative impact on patient care.”